Clark Kent Quitting Daily Planet for Huffington Post? Superman Wants Real 'News'
In a comic book that will be released on Wednesday, Clark Kent has decided to quit his job at the Daily Planet, citing the dismal state of journalism.
Superman has decided that journalists have become too preoccupied with reporting on entertainment news, according to the upcoming issue of the comic. In issue No. 13, Clark Kent will quit his job at the Daily Planet.
"This is the beginning of a multifaceted story line that will challenge Clark on all levels – personally and professionally, as both himself and as Superman," a DC Entertainment representative said in a statement. "This is not the first time in DC Comics history that Clark Kent has left the Planet, and this time the resignation reflects present-day issues – the balance of journalism vs. entertainment, the role of new media, the rise of the citizen journalist, etc."
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The new storyline is likely to see Clark Kent venturing out on his own,after years of taking orders from the man on top, according to comic writer Scott Lobdel.
"Rather than Clark be this clownish suit that Superman puts on, we're going to really see Clark come into his own in the next few years as far as being a guy who takes to the Internet and to the airwaves and starts speaking an unvarnished truth," Lobdell told USA Today. "I don't think he's going to be filling out an application anywhere … He is more likely to start the next Huffington Post or the next Drudge Report than he is to go find someone else to get assignments or draw a paycheck from."
The issue will reflect a real battle that many newspapers are facing in a digital age. Kent complains about the way the industry has turned to an entertainment focus, which is justified as necessary in order to keep a publication in print.
"I've been a journalist barely five years now. Why am I the one sounding like a grizzled ink-stained wretch who thinks that news should be about -- I don't know, news" Kent asks his editor in the comic.
"Go easy on us mere mortals, Clark. Times are changing, and print is a dying medium," White responds.
